Jessy was awoken early the next morning at around five o’clock by a frantic pulling on his arm by Tommy, who mentioned there were “bad men outside with candles and speaking in some foreign language.” Sneaking into the cockpit of the plane Jessy peered out and noticed several dozen men dressed in dark crimson robes standing in a loose semi circle around the front of the plane, chanting in low tones and holding black candles that sputtered in the night breeze. In a larger crowd surrounding them looked to be at least a hundred zombies, perhaps more, all standing motionless, like automatons awaiting command.

Wasting little time, Jessy woke the rest of the group and they entered a quiet and tense discussion of how to continue, none of them desiring to speak to these strange cult members and knowing they lacked the ammo or supplies for a siege, the chanting outside growing noticeably louder as time drew on, and seeming to be mixed with the low moans of zombies from far off.

Sudden thumps from outside (Plus the deafening angry barks of a half dozen dogs) interrupted their tactical planning session, and Riley noticed in the early dawn light three of the robed individuals had climbed onto the wing of the plane and were carefully crawling toward the passenger area, each clutching a fire axe in one hand, their faces hidden by the hoods of their robes.

For lack of a better plan Renee ran to the front of the jet and began going through the preflight check list while Heather worked on securing the rogue mutts in one of the passenger rooms, (aside from her two trained German Shepherds) while leaving the rest of the group to defend the plane. Wasting no time in doing so Jessy happily raised his MP5 and shot out the window, (on full auto like usual) destroying the glass and cutting down the approaching cultists in a spray of blood and cloth.

The aftermath of the gunfire was pure silence, the chanting from outside silenced as if by a knife, with even the dogs shocked into a brief respite from their unending barking. The silence lasted for a handful of heartbeats before the whining of the jet turbines could be heard, mixing with yells outside and the unexpected explosion of gunfire. (Why the players thought these cultists were unarmed I’m not sure but they seemed genuinely surprised at hearing gunshots from outside.)

Upfront Renee ducked for cover as 9mm rounds spider webbed the glass canopy and raised sparks off the exterior of the plane, shoving the throttle forward and lurching the plane down the runway, realizing all too well she had no clue how to fly anything beyond small aircraft, but knowing she had few options left.

Back in the rear of the plane Heather noticed several of the cult members boarding multiple baggage carrying trucks, firing a mixture of handguns and rifles at the plane as it hurdled past them picking up speed. Seconds later the rear cabin was filled with the unmistakable sound of a chainsaw, coming from somewhere under the flooring, (where the baggage compartment is located, usually accessible from outside) which was quickly drowned out by the renewed barking of her dogs.

In the middle of the jet everyone hit the floor and flattened themselves out at the hail of bullets on the crafts hull could be heard, two more of the windows exploding in a shower of glass and the leather upholstery of multiple chairs exploded in a spray of stuffing, Tommy crying in fear as he curled into a ball and tried to hide under the nearest seat.

Meanwhile Renee struggled to hold the plane steady, feeling it drag briefly against the wall of zombies and yelling to the rest of them to "hang on because I'm not stopping till we're airborne or dead!" and wondering briefly why a Jet engine sounded something like a chainsaw as the runway zipped beneath the planes wheels and the burned out wreckage of a rescue truck at the end of the runway loomed larger, and closer with every passing second.

Drawing her Revolver Heather pointed it at the floor, hesitating when she realized the chances of a ricochet in the small cabin were incredibly high, not to mention the chance of damaging one of the vital components of the plane. The pitch of the chain saw abruptly changed as it began cutting into the plane, Heather choosing to retreat, opened the door and stepped out of the room, where the flood of dogs also exited slammed her into a wall and to her knees.

By now the chainsaw noise was clear to everyone else, Jessy and Riley gave each other the classic “oh shit” look before belly crawling to the back of the plane, just in time to be stepped on and mowed over by the incoming dogs as they clawed their way past. The floor beneath them abruptly tilted as Renee yanked back on the controls, a jarring impact combined with the sound of tearing metal sending Heather, (who had just gotten back to her feet) sprawling across the carpet again, with a muffled scream preceding the abrupt silencing of the chainsaw.

Renee, cursing like a sailor at the crummy plane controls (and her player at a poor roll of the dice) yelled back to the group that while they were airborne, landing could be problematic due to the minor issue of the font landing gear no longer being attached to the plane. Jamie nodded with a worried expression and moved to comfort the still sniffling Tommy while Heather tried in vain to quiet the barking and howling animals.

Jessy started reminding her about their problem with airsickness but was suddenly interrupted by the sudden eruption of a crimson robed assailant from the rear bedroom whose appearance was punctuated by the hurling of a very sharp but poorly thrown hand ax which embedded itself firmly in Riley’s left butt cheek. (Much to the players’ relief at it missing anywhere vital, and the amusement of everyone else around the table at his “butt shot.”)

Thrown off balance Riley fell forward into Jessy, taking him to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs while Heather quick drew her revolver and snapped off three quick shots, all of which connected with the robed mans torso and punched him backward into the room and out of sight. Pulling himself to the side, Riley gave the group a pained thumbs up and Heather signaled for her dogs to “attack” and followed right behind them into the rear cabin as Jessy yelled to Jamie to “Give me a hand here I’m better at wounding people then patching’em up!”

In the back Heather found a poorly cut hole in the rough center of the floor, with two very dead robed men in the room, one from her gunfire, the other from what appeared to be a chainsaw wound to the upper chest and shoulder. (Caused during the sudden jerk when the front landing gear got ripped off) After verifying they were both dead and not coming back as zombies by way of a bullet each corpses’ brainpan, she left her dogs on watch and returned to the main area to inform everyone else the situation was resolved.

Having secured the plane Jessy and Jamie set about plugging the busted windows with blankets from the overhead compartments as Heather used the first aid kit to clean and stitch Riley’s axe wound, (Thankful the wallet in his rear pocket had helped mitigate the damage.) Renee finally figured out how to set the auto pilot and came into the back of the jet to join in the discussion of what to do about their current issue with landing.

* * * * *

Will Renee manage to safely land the damaged plane? Is the cargo hold underneath truly secure, or holding more cultists? Will Riely’s wound prove to be more then just a pain in the ass?

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